Man Arrested for Battery of Parking Enforcement Officer

On Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 9:30 AM, Matthew Robert Brown, a 49 year old Santa Barbara resident, assaulted a Santa Barbara Police Parking Enforcement Officer. The Officer was in the process of towing a vehicle in which the registration had expired more than a year ago.

Mr. Brown, the vehicle's owner, became irate when told the vehicle would be towed. He forcefully shoved the Officer out of his way, opened the driver’s door and fled in the blue Dodge pick-up truck with a white motorcycle in the bed. The Parking Officer sustained minor injuries.

The Parking Enforcement Officer immediately requested help over her radio and provided a description of the vehicle and license plate number to responding Santa Barbara Police Officers.

While riding westbound in the 900-1000 block of West Carrillo, a responding Motor Officer passed a blue Dodge truck with a motorcycle in the bed travelling eastbound. Once behind the truck the Officer saw that the license plate was a match and made an enforcement stop in the area of Figueroa and Chino Street.

Officers made contact with Mr. Brown, the sole occupant of the vehicle. He was placed under arrest for felony battery against an officer and misdemeanor resisting & delaying an executive officer’s investigation. He was booked in County Jail on $25,000 bail. Brown's Dodge truck was towed by Santa Barbara Towing because of his expired registration. In the bed of the truck was a 2007 Suzuki off-road motorcycle.

Yearly, the Santa Barbara Police Department receives hundreds of complaints from residents requesting action against vehicles parking too long, blocking driveways or for vehicles with expired registration. A vast majority of interactions with the parking enforcement team are positive.

The Santa Barbara Police Department would like to remind the public to keep their vehicles’ registration current. It is illegal to park a vehicle with expired registration on a City street. A vehicle can indeed be impounded – provided its registration has been expired for more than six months, according to section 22651 (o) of the California Vehicle Code.

Reported by Roger the Scanner Guy
9:32 a.m., September 13, 2017

Assault suspect with a SBPD Checker Unit in the 100 Block of East De La Guerra.